November 1, 2013 edition
- www.buzzfeed.com
For years, proponents of video games as more than idle time-wasters have argued that the act of playing games can in and of itself boost brain function. A study published yesterday by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, in the prestigious journal Nature, may be the best proof yet that regularly playing video games can actually make your brain more powerful.
It's certainly the most visceral. The study, titled "Playing Super Mario induces structural brain plasticity: gray matter changes resulting from training with a commercial video game," found that people who played at least 30 minutes of Mario 64 every day for two months actually grew significant amounts of new gray matter in three areas of the brain correlated with spatial navigation, strategic planning, working memory, and motor performance.
Image via Buzzfeed / Ulrich Knappek
- www.geekgonegirly.com
Halloween is among the most awaited holidays in the world along with Christmas eve and New Year. Normal people and celebrities alike look forward to this day.
Despite having some pagan origins, this holiday is quite fun. Below are some of the costumes by famous celebrities for Halloween.
It seems like celebrities dressing up as another celebrity is this year's thing. Who wore who best?
- www.dannychoo.com
As promised at AFAID, the Mirai Suenaga LINE stickers are now available - for free.
But there is a catch which has been decided by LINE and the regulations they have in place - they are only available for 90 days ;-;
If you want them to be available permanently then we need to get a few million downloads.
LINE have only officially released the stickers to folks in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore - again this was *not* my decision ><
BUT! There is actually a way for anybody to download any stickers regardless of their region - read on to find out how.
- flavorwire.com
MGM is making another Addams Family movie, and this time it'll be animated. Pamela Pettler of Corpse Bride and Monster House will be writing it, and those movies were pretty critically successful, so this could be good. On the other hand, do we really need another Addams Family movie?
- www.themarysue.com
There's a lot here in this story. There's a couple of fifteen year old girls who were barred from handing out breast cancer awareness bracelets by their school district. There's the much debated trend in breast cancer awareness campaigns to skew to a focus on the sexual appeal of breasts rather than the saving of lives as the motivating factor. There's the parents who thought that this was a violation of their daughters' First Amendment rights that was worth taking it all the way to a federal appeals court.
But mostly, there's the undeniably delightful idea that a Supreme Court justice of America might say the word "boobies" on the record during a session.
- www.thebraiser.com
For the first time, Sesame Workshop will grant free licensing use of its Muppets to produce farmers to market fruits and vegetables to children, First Lady Michelle Obama announced today, with the help of Sesame Street's Rosita and a very sassy Elmo at a superadorable press conference.
While it's absurd to think that cartoon characters have an impact on children's food choices, it actually does happen: a three-year study conducted by Cornell University found that Elmo-branded fruits and vegetables got schoolchildren to eat nearly twice as much produce than un-Elmo'd fruits and vegetables. (That little red monster is freakishly hypnotic.)
- www.toplessrobot.com
Got wood? You will if you win this contest. From our friends at Curio Obscurio, purveyors of the posted and the painted, comes an offering that you'll have all the time in the world to admire, relatively speaking. Though it's up to you to provide the space.
Styled after the call boxes that became the favorite disguise of the Doctor's conveyance, the Police Box sign is almost three feet wide, and five and a half inches tall - a good fit above most doors.
- mentalfloss.com
When Spaniard Enric Bernat began selling his striped Chupa Chups lollipops, he spared no expense getting his business off the ground. But Bernat's most aggressive move was hiring the world's most famous surrealist artist, Salvador Dal , to design a new logo.
Dalcreated the familiar daisy insignia and even suggested that the logo be printed on top of the wrapper so that it was always fully displayed--a tip the candymaker seized upon. With all those Dalprints lingering in the candy aisle, don't hesitate to call your next purchase an investment in fine art.
- mashable.com
Halloween has arrived, but if you didn't carve out time to make a jack-o'-lantern this year, you can live vicariously through a master pumpkin stabber.
Brooklyn-based artist Chris Soria spent 15 hours meticulously chipping away at a pumpkin. He filmed the carving progress to create an impressive stop-motion video, which shows the gourd's spooky life cycle from fresh off the patch to moldy death.
The Ramones' "Lobotomy" provides the musical backdrop to the clip, making this a perfect way to get in the spooky spirit.
- mashable.com
Amazon's lineup of original TV content is growing again.
Amazon Studios is moving forward with its first two hour-long drama pilots -- Bosch and The After. People will be able to watch for free and help determine if they should become exclusive shows for Amazon Instant Video. Earlier this month, Amazon Studios greenlit three half-hour original pilots. Those shows are using the same viewer feedback model to decide which ones will make it into full series. In May, the studio began production on five comedy series, which were chosen by viewers from 14 original pilots.
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